Editorial: McGuire, Knell the top-two picks for state Senate

WHEN CALIFORNIA VOTERS passed the campaign reform that created "top two" primary elections, they set the stage for having the two top vote-getters face off in November.

As we saw in the 2012 Assembly race, those top-two finishers could be from one party rather than the traditional Democrat-versus-Republican finale.

We present our endorsements in accord with the new format and will recommend two candidates instead of just one. In past years, we would recommend a Republican and a Democrat during the primaries. Under the new format, we are offering our recommendations on the top two candidates in the field. Voters can only vote for one.

In the June 3 race for the 2nd District in the state Senate, we recommend Sonoma County Supervisor Mike McGuire and Novato School Board trustee Derek Knell.

They have the most on-the-job political experience in elective office compared with two other challengers, Novato lawyer and entrepreneur Harry Lehmann and Lawrence Weisner of Santa Rosa, the only Republican in the field.

McGuire, a former Healdsburg councilman, has been able to muster the strongest list of local political endorsements. He says he would be an advocate for public schools, public pension reform and post-recession reforms on how the state spends and invests taxpayer dollars.

Of the four candidates, he was the only one who listed full funding for completion of the widening of the Novato Narrows as a top priority. He understands the economic and environmental importance of the project.

He also says it is time that California focus on bolstering the speed of its broadband infrastructure.

McGuire is young, energetic, knowledgeable and unknown to Marin voters.

"I want to be able to prove myself," he says.

Knell is a longtime Marin resident and businessman who said he entered the race because he was troubled that the Democratic Party hand-picked McGuire to be Marin's new state senator. The California Democratic Party endorsed McGuire even before the filing period had closed for candidates and even before Knell filed to run.

Knell believes voters should have a say, too.

Marin has not been represented in the state Senate by a local resident since 1978, when Mill Valley's Peter Behr retired.

Knell was recently elected to his third term on the Novato School Board, where he has been a voice for pragmatic decisionmaking. His experience as a roll-up-your-sleeves local school board trustee might prove helpful in Sacramento, which seems, at times, out of touch with the real-life ramifications of its decisions.

Knell says he would push for the state to make it easier to move workers to defined-contribution programs that are the norm in the private sector.

Interestingly, Knell was the only candidate to state his commitment to get the Legislature involved in helping the Drakes Bay Oyster Co. fight its eviction.

Lehmann, who is an independent, is more philosophical than political in his approach. He wants to work for reforms in the state's justice system to help end a costly and unsuccessful pattern of "over incarceration."

Lehmann also says he would abolish the Association of Bay Area Governments and its "developer-driven" planning goals.

Weisner is a certified public accountant who says the state balances its budget on "smoke and mirrors."